Comedian Bill Maher to perform July 6 at the Jubilee Auditorium

New rule: If you’re going to be a “political” comedian, you’d better be funny. If not, run for office – or get a job on Fox News.

That’s not one of Bill Maher’s official “New Rules,” the title of two of his best-selling books, but maybe it ought to be. Fans of the acerbic liberal comedian know he’s done a fine job balancing rhetoric with humour, which we’ll be able to experience in Edmonton again when he performs Friday July 6 at the Jubilee Auditorium. Tickets go on sale Friday.

The New York-born comic, who got his start on the live stage in 1979, earned his fame with the television show “Politically Incorrect,” until it was mysteriously cancelled. It happened just after he made a comment about 9-11 some considered over the line. Coincidence? He thinks not. But after a small burp there, he’s still pushing the various lines and envelopes on his show HBO “Real Time,” where he came up with the idea of “new rules.” Here’s one of literally hundreds: “Instead of using the expression, ‘It is what it is,’ just shut up.”

He’s also made successful forays into feature filmdom, with his poke at religion, Religulous, which turned out to be one of the most successful documentaries ever made, suggesting there might be more funny atheists in America than anyone ever suspected. His latest book is called “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass.” His latest HBO special is called CrazyStupidPolitics, which more or less sums up the thesis of the day. If you can’t find comedy in modern politics – especially American politics, where there’s always an election going on – maybe you’re just not funny.

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